10 Drinks and 10 Days, With a Connected Breathalyzer

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In a movie theater, the feature film was just about to start and my 15 minutes was up. I pulled out my iPhone and plugged a small black device into the headphone jack, tilting my phone's bright screen to the ground so I wouldn't distract the other moviegoers. Slowly I blew into the device for a few seconds until my phone vibrated. Then I checked the result — a blood alcohol concentration of 0.052.

I was using Alcohoot, a breathalyzer that connects to your smartphone. The device was released last fall, and it isn't alone. Another connected breathalyzer, Floome, is scheduled to go on sale this year and was featured in Proto Labs' Cool Idea Awards. These are consumer devices, but it's not clear if the purpose is entertainment or safety.

On the regulatory side, Ignition Interlock Devices in cars have been around since the 1980s, and prevent a person convicted of a DUI from starting the car if he or she has been drinking.

Beyond compulsory use, measuring one's own BAC on a night out — or even a night in — could be part of the quantified self movement. It just isn't as sexy as a wristband that measures steps or sweat, such as Nike Fuel.

After experimenting with Alcohoot over the past month with 10 different drinks, I discovered the device was far from a party foul. Perhaps it's novelty, but pulling a connected breathalyzer out of my purse at a group dinner was the equivalent of dropping some juicy gossip. Others begged to try it out themselves.

The downside: The data just isn't actionable. It's a resounding critique we've come to expect in the activity tracker market and the quantified self movement in general.

The nuances in logging a reliable BAC are serious enough that you may not want to depend on a personal device to make decisions about driving.

Thus, the personal connected breathalyzer seems to go the way of many other quantified self devices — it's a great tool for personal enlightenment.

The headphone plug on Alcohoot is retractable so it can fit comfortably inside a pocket.

Alcohoot recommends you wait 15 minutes after your last drink before measuring; a handy timer is one feature of its app. But it's possible your BAC will continue to rise for 30 minutes to an hour after your last drink, depending what you've had to eat and how much time you spend drinking (this is why rising blood alcohol can be used as a defense in drunk driving cases).

The Alcohoot app, which logs your BAC every time you blow, can help call an Uber or find a nearby restaurant at which to sober up. If you're over your country's legal limit (0.08 in the U.S.), it recommends not driving, for fear of a ticket or worse.

After using Alcohoot on 10 drinks over 10 separate days, I now have a much better idea how each type of drink affects me. I was surprised to find a craft IPA was not much more potent than a cheap beer, and that food really does make a difference — I could feel a buzz after a mimosa with brunch, but still clocked in at 0.00 BAC.

Of course, every person metabolizes alcohol differently, so take the examples below with caution (case in point, at dinner with a friend, my two glasses of Vespa Bianco got me to 0.059, while his two glasses of Prosecco equaled 0.022). In these examples I generally ate a meal prior to drinking, and I travel by subway in NYC so driving after drinking was never an issue.

1. Mimosa - 0.000 BAC

I went to brunch in Brooklyn with a friend and ate a bowl of house-made tater tots covered in scrambled eggs, cheese and guacamole, along with my second cup of coffee of the day. The mimosa was delicious and I don't doubt it contained real champagne, but alas, 0.000 BAC.

A brunch mimosa from a Brooklyln diner

Image: @danifankhauser on Instagram

2. Mojito - 0.008 BAC

When I signed up for a group date with The Dating Ring, I knew it would be a good excuse to splurge on a fun cocktail instead of my usual glass of wine. I'd initially planned to check my BAC on my way home; I thought it would be awkward to pull out Alcohoot at the table among strangers. When the group decided to go for a second drink, I realized I needed to blow right away to measure only the first drink.

As it turned out, one person on the date insisted everyone at the table also measure his BAC. Only one person refused. Perhaps inconsequentially, the two eventually left the bar hand in hand.

A mojito from a bar on Manhattan's LES

Image: @danifankhauser on Instagram

3. Cheap Beer - 0.011 BAC

It was a weeknight and I decided to continue my drinking journey on a night in, while catching up with Portlandia on Netflix. The convenience store near my apartment has a decent selection of beer, including the kind I would never drink by choice, but I was curious if the type of beer would correspond at all with the eventual BAC. A can of Big Flats, which has 4.50% ABV, was only 0.002 BAC below a cup of Two-Hearted IPA, which has 7.00% ABV. Two cans of Big Flats got me to 0.019 BAC, still lower than a single glass of wine.

The cheapest beer I could find at my local convenience store was Big Flats, a six-pack for less than $5.

Image: @danifankhauser on Instagram

4. Craft Beer - 0.013 BAC

I went to a party held at Whole Foods' in-store pub, On Tap, to celebrate Susty Party's latest product line (biodegradable cup, pictured). The highly rated Two-Hearted IPA was, well, on tap. While drinking I also munched on some locally sourced cookies, ice cream and an appetizer-portioned hot dog.

Craft beer served at Whole Foods in the bar

Image: @danifankhauser on Instagram

5. Whiskey - 0.013 BAC

I'm just beginning to develop a taste for whiskey as a standalone beverage, but haven't quite gotten the hang of ordering it yet. After I left a (dry) event, I decided to stop by a whiskey bar down the street from where I live, around 10 p.m., to do some reading on my Kindle. It was busy for a weeknight, but I found some free seating around the perimeter. I asked the bartender for a "good whiskey for beginners." He gave me Glen Grant on the rocks, which was indeed smooth and not at all intimidating.

GlenGrant on the rocks

Image: @danifankhauser on Instagram

6. Margarita - 0.015 BAC

Testing a connected breathalyzer is a good excuse to explore one's own neighborhood, so when I went looking for a margarita, I found a Mexican food restaurant a few blocks away. In my experience, margaritas can vary in both size and strength — this one tasted decent in terms of strength, but was on the smaller end. Actually, it was half the size of the margaritas I used to get for Taco Tuesday when I lived in San Diego.

I browsed articles on Pocket and read Twitter while I drank, then set Alcohoot's 15-minute timer when I paid and left.

A mid-sized margarita from a Mexican food restaurant

Image: @danifankhauser on Instagram

7. Rioja - 0.020 BAC

When you get a glass of wine at a wine bar, you're usually guaranteed a good pour, and that was definitely the case here. The glass itself was still large enough to allow for proper oxidation of the tempranillo blend from Rioja, Spain. Along with the wine, I shared a pizza with my OKCupid date, who wasn't drinking despite having agreed to meet at a wine bar.

A Spanish red from an Italian wine bar

Image: @danifankhauser on Instagram

8. Champagne - 0.033 BAC

A coworker and I went searching for an after-work drink venue and landed at the corner of the bar in an American food restaurant. My champagne was served in the standard flute, very unlike red wine's wide goblet, so it can be hard to compare by size. To add, the rumors that champagne's bubbles increase its ABV have gotten mixed scientific reviews. But at least in my experience, champagne seems to make a bigger impression than regular wine.

A glass of champagne from a downtown Manhattan bar

Image: @danifankhauser on Instagram

9. Jack Rose - 0.044 BAC

The only drink poured by a non-professional in this anecdotal study came at an office happy hour. The Jack Rose contains applejack, grenadine, and lemon or lime juice. It was popular in the 1920s and 1930s. While I'm told this one isn't popularly served in bars any longer, it could make a unique offering at a house party.

The classic cocktail Jack Rose

Image: @danifankhauser on Instagram

10. Shot and Beer - 0.052 BAC

Despite my desire to compare single drinks individually, I didn't feel right ordering a shot by itself. So, when I was on my way to a film screening, I found a bar with decent happy hour prices and got myself a shot of Cuervo along with Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. (Despite the bartender's recommendation against it, I found it quite tasty.)

Sam Adams Cherry Wheat with a shot of Cuervo tequila

Image: @danifankhauser on Instagram

Alcohoot

The Good

Conversation-starter • Sleek design • Easily accessible

The Bad

An investment (more than $100) • Questionable utility • May require you to remove your phone from its case

The Bottom Line

The Alcohoot was fun, intuitive and certainly enlightening for people interested in making the most of their own personal data.

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